The
term piracy is generally used to describe the deliberate infringement
of a copyright on a commercial scale. Compact disc piracy became
a global problem in the 1990ís because the technology of duplicating
CDs developed rapidly, making CDs a quicker, easier, and cheaper
product to duplicate than most other forms of sound recording.
The pirates or counterfeits are shipped around the world through
complicated distribution channels for sales, making the place
of origin difficult to determine. The sales of these pirates not
only infringe upon the rights of the artist involved, but also
create unfair competition at every level of the industry supply
chain. As of 1998, pirate sales made up 33% of global music sales.